Barcelona will be looking to bounce back against Champions League chasing, Athletic Bilbao after a nightmare ten days which killed off their Champions League and Copa del Rey hopes, as well as dealing a critical blow to the prospect of them retaining La Liga title.  

Barcelona have won just one of their last five games including three straight defeats in their last three games.  There is no more room for error for Tata Martino's side and they already need Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid to drop points if they are to be crowned champions of Spain for a twenty-third time. 

If Barca are to get the win they will have to do it the hard way as they are once again without key players.  Victor Valdes, Gerard Pique, Carlos Puyol, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, Neymar and Isaac Cuenca have all missed out on a place in the eighteen man matchday squad.  The only positive for the Catalans is that centre-back, Marc Bartra has made it into the squad and is available for selection.

Athletic Bilbao come into the game in good form, sitting fourth in La Liga, six points clear of Sevilla.  They have lost just once in their last nine games against title chasing Atletico Madrid. They took an early lead in that game at the San Mames through Iker Muniain but goals from Diego Costa and Koke handed the Madrid side the points.  They are also on a good run of away results and are undefeated in their last seven, a run that stretches back to a 1-0 defeat, also to Atletico Madrid, in January.  

Bilbao are not without their own injury problems and will be without Carlos Gurpegui who is out for the rest of the season and Kike Sola.  There are also doubts over the availibility of Mikel Rico and Ibai Gomez.

Bilbao have already beat Barcelona this season in the first league game with Muniain scoring the only goal of the game midway through the second half.  On that occasion Barcelona were without Lionel Messi and while the little Argentine has been below his usual level of performance this season he is still the key man for Barca.  

A lot of people have been quick to criticise Messi which is perhaps a little harsh.  Messi has scored twenty-five league goals which is just two less than Diego Costa and three less than Cristiano Ronaldo.  Nobody has suggested Costa or Ronaldo are having a poor season which is perhaps an indicator of just how good Messi can be when he is on top form.  He has no goals in his last three games but in the seven before that he scored eleven times, including two hat-tricks.

Messi won't have it all his own way and will no doubt find it difficult against Bilbao starlet, Aymeric Laporte.  Laporte has been linked with a move to Pep Guardiola's, Bayern Munich.  He is nineteen years old and is just the second French man to play for Athletic Bilbao after Bixente Lizarazu.  He has been capped for the under-21's and looks to have a great career ahead of him.  

Both sides are entering key parts of their season but the game is perhaps a little bit more important for Barcelona.  They need maximum points from their last five games to have any chance of winning the league while Bilbao have a bit more room for error as they lead Sevilla by six points in the race for the fourth Champions League spot.  However, Bilbao might just fancy their chances against a struggling Barcelona and will be aiming to heap more misery on Tata Martino's men. 

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About the author
Gerry Johnston
Cover Spanish and Italian football for VAVEL UK.